Sam Darnold’s Golf Swing is Far From A Backup

This coming Sunday, when Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks take the field in San Francisco, we’re going to witness the culmination of what could be one of the greatest comeback stories in football. I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic in saying that.

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Darnold was all but written off. Drafted by the Jets—a team even us Lions fans take solace in knowing we aren’t that cursed—he struggled out of the gate. He then bounced through Carolina, Minnesota, and San Francisco, watching a Super Bowl run from the sidelines in Santa Clara—now returning to that same building with a chance to rewrite his story.

Through all of it, he never quit, which makes rooting for him incredibly easy.

Over the years, I’ve also become a fan watching him pop up on the golf course alongside other quarterbacks like Josh Allen. Their matches with the Bob Does Sports crew are some of the most entertaining and endearing videos in the YouTube golf world. And when you start breaking down his swing, it’s easy to see why he looks so comfortable out there.

I mentioned this when breaking down Josh Allen’s swing, but the throwing motion and the golf swing share a ton of similarities. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see Sam consistently get into some really good positions. We've seen a ton of his swing over the years from a QB match play showdown with Skratch back in 2023 to 46th place finish at American Century last year, he's high up on the list of top pro athletes who play golf—and play it well. For this swing analysis we used a clip from Bob Does Sports' match between Sam, Josh Allen, Kyle Allen and the BDS guys in March of last year.

Setup:

One of the more common mistakes golfers make at address is a lack of knee bend, which limits athletic movement through the swing.

Sam is on the other end of the spectrum.

I’d like to see him stand a bit taller at address. Once he does that, he’ll also need to stand slightly closer to the ball to maintain balance and posture. Starting a touch taller would allow him to create more dynamic movement into the ground rather than already being there from the start.

Takeaway:

Really solid here.

He moves the club back with mainly his arms, but he does a great job of keeping the club out in front of him rather than dragging it too far inside.

The only potential issue is that an arms-dominant takeaway can lead to sequencing problems later in the swing, creating a reliance on timing with the hands. It’s not a deal-breaker—especially for an elite athlete—but it’s something that shows up later.

Top of backswing:

I think a lot of his tendencies can be found here.

The clubface is square at the top, which is great, but when watching the video in slow-mo, he really uses his hands to get the face here. Ideally, you want this to be a combination of arm rotation and wrist hinge—not from actively manipulating the face with the hands.

This will cause some issues at address when needing to square the face up to start the ball online. That said—this is Sam Darnold we’re talking about. If he can make a throw scrambling sideways while being chased by 300-pound monsters, squaring a clubface is a relatively simple task.

What really stands out is his lower body stability. He maintains an impressive amount of flexion in his trail leg, it looks like it has barely moved since the start of his swing. This is going to make transitioning his weight to his left side very easy.

The one small nitpick: because he starts with so much knee bend, he doesn’t have as much room to load into the ground. To create maximum ground force, you want to load and then push. Starting already bent limits how much you can “compress the spring,” which ultimately leaves some speed on the table.

That said, this is a very minor critique. I’d much rather see too much flexion than locked or buckled knees.

Pre-Impact:

His lower body leads the way beautifully. You can already see the lead hip clearing out, creating space for the arms and club to shallow and deliver properly. His trail heel starting to lift shows his weight transfer is happening naturally and on time.

This is high-level movement.

Impact:

Textbook.

Proper amount of side bend. Excellent hip position. He’s rotating around a stable axis while delivering speed and control.

There’s really nothing to complain about here.

Post impact:

His upper and lower body moves so well through impact. Rotating cleanly without a hint of early extension.

Take it a step further, and you see his hands attempt to save the club face and you can see how shut it is in relation to his body.

In this specific video, the iron shot hangs out to the right and misses the green. His hands were late coming through and wasn’t able to square it up in time. If he can quiet his hands a bit more going back, he won’t have to rely on them as much through impact.

Follow through:

Just like every high level athlete that has played golf for a bit, he has a very balanced finish. His footwork is tremendous throughout the swing, and it shows here.

This is what a real athlete’s swing looks like. Efficient lower-body movement, clean positions, and just enough hand action to get him in trouble now and then. Dial back the manipulation, optimize the setup, and the swing becomes something you’d happily copy. It’s a reminder that power doesn’t come from effort—it comes from sequencing.

More Celebrity and Athlete Golf Swing Breakdowns:

Justin Bieber | Mookie Betts | Caitlin Clark | Lebron James | Josh Allen | Sam Darnold